Save Me from Myself
by deadmansbloodandvervain
Summary: When Elena wakes up, confused and unsure of much anything, who will be there to help? Her friends and loved ones try to help her understand but in the end will Damon be the one who can really save her?
1. Save Me

**Rated: T**

**A/N: Please don't be really hard on me! This is my first story to post, ever. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Vampire Diaries, that would be CW and L.J. Smith. I just toy with the ideas. **

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**Ch. 1**

**Elena's POV**

Beep. Beep. Beep. A steady rhythm of beeps awakens the girl. Rolling side-to-side, uncomfortable, Elena's eyes open. She can't tell where she is. White walls surround her, there is a mirror facing the bed, and an IV bag and heart monitor above her head. The hospital. Well that explains why she couldn't get comfortable on the generic flat pillows and the scratchy off white sheets with the little blue dots.

Confused, Elena sits up, rubbing her eyes with the palms of her hands. When did she get in the hospital? What was she here for? She couldn't remember anything. Looking down at herself, she notices she's wearing a white hospital gown and her olive skin is paler than she's ever seen it. Turning her face up, she focuses on the mirror, getting a better look at herself. Her dark, waist length hair, is hanging lankily around her; she looks a little thinner and has dark circles under her eyes. Well at least her dark brown irises look the same as before. Taking relief in that normalcy, she starts to think about what she should do.

Throwing her legs over the edge of the bed, Elena decides she needs to find out what's going on, not to mention she obviously needs food, sun, and a shower. As soon as she starts to stand the door opens and she collapses.

Running up, Stephan catches just under her arms, and helps her back onto the bed.

"I wouldn't try that if I were you."

There's a look of relief behind his smile. Elena felt a lot better, just by his presence.

"Stephan! What's going on? How did I get here?"

His brow forms a crease. "You mean you don't remember anything?"

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**Damon POV **

Glass full of bourbon in hand, Damon stares down at it for a moment, thinking, before tossing it back. He's scared to see Elena again. Every day for the past three weeks he's been going to the hospital and sitting by her bed for at least 8 hours.

Everyday he sits there; watching, hoping maybe today would be the day. Everyday she has lain there, unresponsive. It wasn't that he was losing hope; he would never lose hope, no matter how long he had to wait for her. He just couldn't stand to see her like that, not being able to help her in some way. Sighing, Damon stands up, grabbing his wallet and keys. He couldn't just not go, what if she woke up and he wasn't there. Sliding his wallet into his back pocket he walks out of the door and hops into his baby blue Camaro.

Hopefully, she would wake up today. He snorts a little to himself. He says the same thing everyday, maybe one day it would actually happen. Damon knows he doesn't have that kind of luck though.

His thoughts making the drive go by pretty quickly, Damon is pulling into the hospital parking lot before he knows it. Getting out of the car and walking in through the sliding doors, he feels like something is different today. The question is, what could possibly be different? The doctor at the nurse's station sees him walk in and strides over to greet him.

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**Elena's POV**

Stephan had left the room, after acting weird and saying he would come back and tell her what she wants to know. This was getting stranger by the moment. On his way out of the room he had pulled out his phone. Looks like he was calling in some of her other friends to help him. This couldn't be good…

When Stephan finally walks back in, Jeremy is at his side. Elena's little brother has a big grin on his face as he walks over to her and sits on the chair beside her bed, the plastic cover squeaking. Jeremy leans over and plants a swift kiss on her cheek.

"I'm so glad you're finally awake Elena. You were starting to scare me."

"Jer. How long have I been asleep?"

A look of utter confusion creeps over Elena's face. With each persons reaction she grows more baffled.

He's stalling, rubbing the back of his head. "You've been asleep for three weeks 'Lena. No one could figure out why you wouldn't wake up."

Eyes widening, Elena turns an accusing look at Stephan. "Why didn't you tell me sooner?"

"I'm sorry, I didn't want to frighten you. Besides, Jeremy made us all promise that if we were here when you woke up we would call him first."

Stephan smiled a bit nervously and Elena immediately forgave him. She knew how worried Jeremy must have been.

Jeremy chuckles and pulls his phone out. "Listen, I'm glad you're back to life again, but we are going to get everyone else and bring them up here. Damon should be here soon; you should see how bad he's been handling all of this. Get some rest 'Lena. I'll explain everything soon."

Standing up, he kisses her cheek lightly, once more. Stephan follows, kissing her forehead, a few seconds longer than necessary, before finally pulling back.

"Bring me some real clothes back!" Elena calls after them as they walk out the door.

Lying back, Elena decides to get some rest before everyone comes to bombard her with attention. Drifting off into blackness, sleep overtakes her in no time.

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**Damon POV**

The doctor had said she needed to talk with Damon. Dr. Fell walked him into the little room that was attached to Elena's. They were looking through a two-way mirror that showed him into her room.

"What is it?" Damon states bluntly, turning to face the doctor.

He doesn't feel like wasting time in here when he could be in the other room.

"We think Elena woke up this morning." She meets Damon's eyes evenly.

"You _think_ she woke up? What makes you _think_ that?" A tone of anticipation is undercutting his annoyance. His ice blue eyes widening with each lift in his voice.

"Well, when the nurses came into her room this morning she was on the ground." Dr. Fell is a bit hesitant to say this part.

"What the hell do you mean you found her on the ground?"

"It looks like the chair caught her fall, because half her body was laying on the chair. She must have tried to stand up."

Damon's eyes dart to the window where he looks down at Elena's sleeping form. His heartbeat picks up and he rushes out of the room and into Elena's, before the doctor can say another word.

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**A/N: Thanks for reading. If you like it let me know! I have more to the story. If anyone is interested I'll post more. **


	2. Dream a Little Dream

**A/N: **Thanks for those of you interested. I will give more information soon, I promise.

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Vampire Diaries. I just play with the story.

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**Damon POV**

Resting his forehead on Elena's still arm, Damon slows his breathing. He was so hopeful coming in here. Maybe she can still wake up, while he's here. It isn't like he's leaving anytime soon, especially now. Leaning forward in his chair, Damon brushes back the hair from her face.

"Please wake up. I know you can hear me. You were awake earlier. I _know _you were. Just come back to me already." Pleading, his voice is rough with emotion.

After getting no response, Damon stands and gently lifts under her back and knees, shifting her to the side. Finally, once he's maneuvered her a little, there's a space on the tiny hospital bed, just big enough for him to slide in beside her. Lifting the covers, Damon slips his boots off beside the chair, lays his wallet and keys on the side table, and climbs into the bed. He swathes the irritating sheets back over them both.

Lying on his side, draping and arm and leg, protectively, across Elena, he runs his free hand through her, now stringy, locks. His chin resting just above her head, he tilts his face down and lays his lips upon her temple.

Ending the kiss, he pulls back and whispers, "I will be here when you wake up this time. I promise. I'm not going _anywhere_".

Shutting his eyes, cuddling with the girl he loves, he drifts peacefully into his dreams.

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**Elena POV**

Eyelids fluttering, Elena feels bared to the bed by some weight she can't find the source of. Turning her face to the side, she spots the source, her captor. Damon. He looks deep in thought, even in his sleep. Beautiful.

Elena removes her hand from under his arm, running her fingertips along his prominent cheekbone and chiseled, lightly stubbled, jaw line.

Turning on her side, so her body is facing his, she intertwines her legs and arms with his body. Pulling herself as close as possible, she places a chaste kiss on his lips, relaxing into him, her Damon, before disappearing again.

This time her sleep isn't peaceful. The weird thing is the dreams; they feel more like memories, just out of reach.

_It all starts in the road outside of her high school; she is standing on the outside looking in. Looking around she can't remember how she got here. There are screams coming from somewhere. All of the sudden, like the flip of a switch, she's in history class, talking to Caroline. Elena watches her flip her golden locks, when her eyes pass the door they widen and her breath hitches. Turning her head in order to see what Caroline was looking at, the lights go out. She never got to see what Caroline saw._

_How did she get to the library? Why is Matt laying on the floor? Looking down Elena finds her slender hands, covered in blood. Crawling over the floor to get to Matt, panic begins to claw at her chest. Just before she reaches the motionless body she hears a loud band, and then blacks out._

Is this part of the reason she's in the hospital and can't remember a thing? What was the last thing she remembered? Thinking back, Elena remembers getting dressed for school. Everything after that…. is gone. Was this a memory, or a vivid dream?

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**Damon POV**

Something is shaking the bed. What could possibly be shaking the bed? Slowly coming back to his senses, Damon awakens to Elena's eyes, wide open. A seizure is rocking her body, and the bed. That is what woke him.

"Elena!" He jumps out of the bed, holding her shoulder to keep her stable and on her side.

"Nurse. Nurse!" Crying out, he reaches and jams his finger into the call button frantically, until the door flies open.

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**A/N: **Thanks again for reading!


	3. Come Back to Me

**A/N: **I'll try to keep the posting consistent! I always type something but I'm usually torn on if I should combine posts and make longer chapters or if I should just keep them this short and less time consuming length! Thanks for following. :)

**Disclaimer: **Don't own the Vampire Diaries, sad day.

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**Elena POV**

She was so close to understanding something. It's like the moment that her brain felt she was too close to getting the answers she needed it retaliated. It was like the carpet got pulled out from beneath her feet each time. Was her brain trying to keep her protected from what she may find? She couldn't think of another reason why she couldn't remember the past events at all.

Elena was just stuck inside her head after that vivid dream, dredging up old memories to try and figure out how she came to be here, and then, the next thing she knows, tension seizes her body and she is gone.

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**Damon POV**

Sitting in the larger chair in the corner of the room, Damon is hunched over, hands buried in his dark hair, pale eyes vacantly staring at the floor. His breathing is slow, as he tries to remain calm.

The nurses had just let him back into the room, after having kicked him out to deal with Elena. They didn't appreciate him yelling at them and losing control while they were doing everything they could to help Elena. He knew it wasn't their fault that there wasn't much they could be besides pump her full of drugs and let her ride it out. He just hated to see her in any kind of pain.

He couldn't help but think that this was his fault. That he had, in some odd way, caused Elena's seizure. This had only happened on one other occasion...

_After everything had happened a month ago, Elena was in shock. She stayed in bed for the whole week, just staring off, crying, and blaming herself for events she could never have controlled. They were lying in bed; Elena curled up on her side, crying into the pillow saying, "It's all my fault, all my fault. He was there for me." Damon was trying to say whatever soothing words he could think of to calm her down; she was working herself up again. He felt the beginnings of her slipping into a panic attack; she was starting to shake, gasping for breath and body going rigid. Damon was going out of his mind trying to find away to help her, anything, he hated feeling helpless and that was just how he felt. The next thing he knew her panicking stopped and her seizure began._

_That was the day he raced her to the hospital. That was the day she lost consciousness and wouldn't wake up again._

Damon can't help but blame himself. As he sits there thinking, he realizes there was only one shared factor in both incidents, him. In both cases he had been lying in bed with her, just trying to help, and it had had the opposite effect.

Just when he was starting to really feel miserable, Dr. Fell walks into the room and closes the door behind her. She comes over to Damon and pulls a chair up beside him. Slowly, he lifts his exhausted eyes to meet hers.

"What's the news, doc?" His voice is loaded with sarcasm, which she knows he's using to try to hide his pain.

"You can't blame yourself forever Damon. The mind has odd ways of recovering from tragedy. We can't tell why she is having the seizures, but my guess is it's her brain trying to block out the painful memories. What she has gone through, it would be a lot for anyone to handle." She pauses for a moment to let this sink in. "The good thing is, according to our tests, she's perfectly healthy and should be awake anytime now. Just give her another hour or two. Okay?"

"I'm not going anywhere. I already made her that promise." His face softens a bit and he tries to lighten the mood as he points to the bed to reinforce his next statement. "I may not try and lay over there again, but I'm not leaving."

Dr. Fell let out a little snort. "I highly doubt that the seizure had anything to do with you lying with her." She smiles a little as she pushes herself up off of the chair and walks out of the door.

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**Elena POV**

Flexing her muscles and stifling a yawn, Elena slowly comes to. She is sore and a bit groggy, but she finally manages to wake up and let her eyes roam the room. After a quick sweep of the area she realizes that she's alone. Her heart aches a little when she doesn't see Damon. She could have sworn she heard his voice only moments ago.

The sound of the doorknob turning alerts her. Eyes wide and face flying in the direction of the noise, Elena's heart swells with joy, and begins to try and beat it's way out of her chest. Her breath catches in her throat as her skin tingles.

"Damon. You're here." Her voice comes out raspier than she thought it would.

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**Damon POV**

Opening the door, carrying a full cup of (spiked) coffee, his eyes are distant, he's hardly aware of the motions he's going through. He is just waiting for the moment she awakes. He is pulled out of his trance at the sound of that voice, his name hanging in the air.

As he looks up and realizes what he's seeing is real, he tosses the cup in the trash and is by her bed in seconds. Cupping her face in his hands, crushing his lips into hers. After a lingering moment he pulls away.

"Of course I'm here. Where else would I be?"

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**Elena POV**

They spent the rest of the day and that night just lying in bed. There wasn't so much a need for words, as much as the need to be close to one another. Holding each other. Elena had the same dream again that night, but decided not to bring it up. She didn't want to know right now. Whatever the dreams are trying to tell her, it can't be good, and she doesn't want to deal with what she may find out. At least, not until she gets back home.

Damon just left the room for the first time since she had woken up yesterday. He is off talking to Dr. Fell about getting Elena home since all the tests are showing that she is doing just fine. As she's lying back on the pillows, alone in her room, she starts to think about how Stephan and Jeremy never came back yesterday. Damon must have called them and told them that he was here and not to come.

Just then the door opens and Stephan and Jeremy walk in.

"Well speak of the devil…" She laughs a little to herself. "Where were you guys? You never showed back up yesterday."

"We were waiting for Damon to leave. This is the first time he's let you out of his sight since we saw you yesterday." Jeremy's tone was rather serious for Elena's liking.

"What are you talking about?"

"We need you to do something, when you get back home. But you can't tell Damon. He won't understand and he won't let you help us. He'll probably leave you locked up here." Stephan's voice is calm and determined.

"I can do whatever I want. Why would he leave me here?" Confusion is all over her face.

"We need you to help us track someone down. He's responsible for what happened at the school. If you tell Damon, you know he won't let you. He never lets you make your own choices, like I used to. He just does what he thinks is best to keep you safe. You know that."

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**A/N: **Hope you enjoy! I'll give more information on past events soon! I promise.


	4. Help Me, Please

**A/N: **Thanks to those of you interested, following, reading, reviewing! This chapter is kind of a way to ease you into the idea of maybe me moving the rating up. I may move it to M. If you have an opinion let me know!

**Disclaimer: **Still don't own Vampire Diaries.

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**Damon POV**

Pacing nervously, waiting for the doctor to start the paper work to clear Elena to go home. Damon's anxious to get back to the room. Sighing heavily, he steps into the room and leans on the doorframe; impatience is written all over him. Crossing his arms over his chest and crossing one leg over the other, he attempts to appear relaxed.

"What's the holdup? You've been telling me her labs are great. Were you _lying_? I mean how long can it really take to look those_ back_ over and sign a little piece of paper?"

"Damon. Stop. I was not lying. I am just double checking all of her tests to make sure it's absolutely safe for you to take her home. Something just isn't setting right with me, and I don't want you to get home to have to bring her right back."

"Yeah. Yeah. Just get to the part where you tell me she's as healthy as a horse and I can take her back home with me." His brow forms a slight crease as he tries to hide his concern.

Giving an exhausted laugh, Meredith Fell rolls her eyes at Damon and signs the paper with a flourish of her pen. Standing, she walks over to him and holds out the signed paper. He reaches to grab it from her but she pulls back so it's just out of his reach.

"Take her home and you take good care of her. I trust you with this. She is very…delicate right now. Something feels a little off to me even though I can't see anything physically wrong with her, so just keep an eye on her. You know where I am if you need me." Finally letting him grab the paper from her, she gives him a small smile. "Take her to the nurses station and sign out, then you're free to go." With that parting note, Dr. Fell walks down the hallway on her way to another patient's room.

Damon looks down at the lab work and test results, not able to make heads or tails of what he's looking at, but seeing nothing that looks alarming, and the doctors signature, a small smile of relief creeps up the edges of his lips. Breathing out heavily, he stands tall and fixes his black jacket, walking off back down the hall towards Elena's room with confidence back in his quick steps.

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**Elena POV**

Tapping her foot restlessly, Elena is perched on the edge of her bed, ready to take off at any moment. Jeremy and Stephan had just left, saying they could see Damon coming back down the hall and they had to get out before he saw them. The guys hadn't really given her much in the way of details about this so-called mission they needed help with.

With only a few seconds to think on her own, before Damon came back in, Elena hastily went over her options. She knows Stephan is right, she can't tell Damon. If she dares to tell him, he won't even let her consider her options. He always means well, all he wants is for her to be safe, she loves that about him, but she has to make her own choice this time. Leaning her head down and running her hands through her hair, she thinks hard. What _happened_ at the school? She really needs to find out what all she is missing.

Jeremy and Stephan said they need her help. Sucking in a long, deep breath, she doesn't feel like she has any other options. A man she loves and her brother need her help, she has to hear them out at least, and do whatever she can for them, right? There is no more time to debate. Damon is outside the room; the door is starting to ease open. Besides, she just made her choice, kind of. She is going to hear them out later, when Damon isn't around. Until then she is going to go home and try to find out more information about what happened at the school.

A look of confusion crosses his face, his brow furrows, and eyes doing a quick sweep of the room. He holds up a worn black leather duffle bag, extending it towards Elena.

"I've had these clothes here for you." His eyes look around the room once more and back towards to hallway as he slowly shuts the door with his boot. "The nurse said she heard you talking in here, who were you talking to?"

Panic clutches at Elena chest. She is caught. Her eyes widen, she is sure she looks like a deer in the headlights. Guilt is oozing out of her pores, she can't explain who was here. She needs to distract him, draw his attention elsewhere. Racing through her choice of words, her mouth slightly parts as if to say something, before closing again as her eyes lock on the duffle.

Reaching behind her back, Elena grabs hold of the tie holding her hospital gown together. She pulls, undoing the knot, and rolls her shoulders forward letting the gown slide off of her slight shoulders. The gown slowly slithers down her arms and off her body, gathering in a pile of material at her bare feet.

"I need to change, mind helping me?"

Elena's voice comes out less confident than she was hoping. The words catch in her throat as her heart speeds up; Damon's eyes linger on her body, only panties left covering her.

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**Damon POV**

Shock and excitement course through Damon's entire body as Elena drops the gown. His pale eyes pop open and a noise somewhere between a chuckle and a groan escapes his parted, lips. His gaze glides down, soaking in the details. He looks from where she's softly biting her full bottom lip, down her long neck to the curvature of her perfect breasts, her long dark hair grazes her waist, flat stomach is tense with nerves and he ends by making his way down her long legs.

Looking back up to meet her eyes, Damon strolls across the floor. "Are you trying to distract me, Ms. Gilbert?" His voice is husky as he comes to stand in front of her.

Slowly he puts his arms around her trim waist and drops the duffle bag on the bed behind her. He pulls her against his toned body, his left hand cupping the back of her neck and slowly skimming down her spine, coming to a stop at her lower back.

"No, just stating a fact." She replies shakily.

Lowering his face to the crook of her neck he lightly nuzzles her throat. He drags his lips, trailing one long kiss from her collarbone, up along her jaw and places a light kiss on the side of her mouth. A small sigh escapes her and he grins against her lips. Unzipping the bag behind her back, he manages to blindly find her jacket. Pulling back he slips her arms into the jacket, closing it around her.

"Don't tempt me. I don't like being the good guy Elena. Get dressed so we can get home. If you want to continue there, in private, we can." He whispers into her ear before gently kissing the side of her head.

"So, who were you talking to anyways?"

"Oh…just myself" Elena laughs and blushes.

Half of Damon's face pulls up as he smiles, thinking about how much he missed that sound and her blush while she was gone.

"That's what the nurse said it sounded like. She couldn't really tell. I just had to go get the bag from behind her station." He points across the hall.

"I'll be over there starting to get you signed out. Put some clothes on." He chuckles as he walks out of the door, his sights set on the nurses station.

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**Elena POV**

Letting out a heavy sigh of relief as Damon leaves the room, she can't believe he actually bought it. He didn't even question her answer. Guilt still ate away at her gut, but this is for a good cause, she reasoned with herself. Slipping into a pair of skinny jeans, a long sleeve shirt, and converse, she pulls her jacket back over her shoulders, sliding her hand behind her hair and pulling up to free it from under her jacket. Leaving the room behind, Elena heads over her Damon, a smile on her lips.

Hours later, after leaving the hospital and dealing with other matters, Damon and Elena are lying in bed. He wouldn't have let her stay at her house, even if she would have tried. She is perfectly happy being here though, wrapped in his arms after making up for lost time together. Slowly her eyes begin to droop and she starts to fall asleep, she can already feel Damon breathing deep even breaths against the back of her head.

_"I will give you a moment to make your decision. Poor Matt here will suffer the consequences should you not choose to come with me. My patience is wearing thin sweetheart."_

_A blond, handsome, man with a teasing British accent grips Matt by the back of the neck. His right hand is holding a gun to Matt's temple. They are in the high school library._

_"Come on Elena, he's running out of time." The man's lips pull into a tight smile, his eyebrows lift impatiently._

_"Klaus, please, let him go. He has nothing to do with this!"_

_"He has the misfortune of being close to you, love. It's entirely your fault he's here. Your time has gone. Give me your answer." _


End file.
